Cove Energy’s (CNVGF.PK) board asks its shareholders to okay a raised bid from Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) subsidiary Shell Exploration and Production, of 220 pence per share. The new offer values Cove at £1.12 billion, or $1.8B billion; the company is run by ex-Shell veteran Michael Blaha. Alexis Flynn opines that Shell rivals are not likely to beat the 220p offer, although Cove shares topped that price in London trading on Tuesday.

United Tech (NYSE:UTX) CFO Greg Hayes says that his company is in the final stages of negotiations regarding the sale of its Rocketdyne space unit. A contract to that effect is expected by the end of the second quarter, Hayes reports, and he comments that the European Union’s evaluation of UTX’ purchase of Goodrich is moving forward as expected. In addition, he reports that his company has received initial offers for industrial units at its Hamilton operations.

Shares of Fusion-io (NYSE:FIO) benefit from William Blair’s confirmation that it could be on the shopping list of some IT big name. The firm has of late been the focus of much merger and acquisition chatter.

Digital Generation (NASDAQ:DGIT) acquires privately-held Peer39, and its shares jump as a result. The firm plans to integrate Peer39 with another of its purchases, Israeli-based MediaMind.

Payless Shoe parent Collective Brands (NYSE:PSS) is mulling final bids from South Korea’s E-Land and Wolverine World Wide (NYSE:WWW), according to a Bloomberg report. A decision is due in the near term, and it’s said that at least one offer was approximately $2 billion.